


Blood and Lightning

by Speedforce_Writer



Series: Reversed Age AU [1]
Category: DCU (Comics), Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Teen Titans (Comics), Titans (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-01-23 07:17:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21316312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Speedforce_Writer/pseuds/Speedforce_Writer
Summary: Nora Allen was murdered in her home. Her husband, Henry, was accused of the crime. Their son, Barry, saw the real killer, a blur of red lightning, but no one believes him. No one but his Uncle Bart. Bart Allen knows his brother would have never killed Nora and he is going to help Barry prove it. Wally West is left having to mourn his sister's murder while taking on the new responsibility of caring for an eight-year-old. That is on top of his work as a CSI and his responsibilities as the Flash. As it goes for people in his line of work, things end up being even more complicated than that.
Relationships: Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, Henry Allen/Nora Allen
Series: Reversed Age AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536709
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is a reverse age AU where the oldest heroes are all the youngest but all the other characters are mostly in the same order age-wise. I am mixing together a number of continuities. A lot of my inspiration for this fic comes from The Bat and the Bird 'Verse by Cursedkaze so please give their fics a look, they are amazing. This is the first fic I have ever posted. I am open to criticism but please be kind. I hope you enjoy.

Red lightning crackled through the air, a blur was running around and around and around his mother. She screamed for him to run, for him to leave her. But he was frozen, unable to make a decision either way. Fear glued his feet to the ground. He should try to save her, he should also do what she said. But he couldn’t do either. The decision was taken out of his hands, though. One second he was watching his mother in the middle of the living room, the air being sucked from her lungs. The next he was two blocks away, alone. He gasped, looking around in confusion. It was the middle of the night, the moon barely able to be seen. The world was so quiet in comparison to the noise that had been in his home. The wind whistled around him, tousling his hair and sending a chill through his pajama-clad body. Had the Flash saved him? Why would he just leave him out there alone? He needed to get back to his house. His mom needed him. After another few seconds of standing there, frozen, he moved. He ran.

-

The call came in the middle of the night, drawing him out of deep sleep. He didn’t even glance at the screen as he put the phone to his ear, “Hello?” His voice was thick with sleep.

The voice on the other end was none other than his boss, but the words that came out of his mouth were far from expected, “Wally, I’m gonna need you to come to your sister’s place.”

Energy immediately coursed through Wally, banishing the sleepiness from his brain. His boss shouldn’t have been calling for him to come to his sister’s house. His boss shouldn’t have known where his sister’s house was, “What?! Why?”

“Wally, I need you to keep calm. Can you do that?”

The man was already getting dressed, mind racing miles ahead of the precinct chief’s words. He was CSI and best friends with one of the best detectives on Earth, it wasn’t hard to imagine everything that could come out of his boss’s mouth. After a second running through all sorts of possibilities, he put a halt on his thoughts and replied, “Yes. Just… just explain.”

“Screaming was heard at your sister’s residence about 45 minutes ago and a neighbor called it in. When my men arrived on the scene, Nora was found… dead in the living room.” Singh gave Wally a moment to respond but when all he got was silence he continued, “It was a stabbing. The weapon was a kitchen knife. Henry Allen was found in the kitchen, apparently in shock and with blood on his hands. He appeared to have tried to save her… after he stabbed her. He had the weapon next to him. We’re still examining the scene but the techs on duty are pretty certain it was him, despite his and his son’s claims.” Singh was talking like this was just another case Wally was working. He sounded like he did whenever he explained a crime. But this wasn’t just another terrible murder he had to help solve, this was his sister. His brother-in-law. His nephew.

A number of emotions reared up inside Wally: anguish, anger, fear, confusion, and so many others. How could Henry have done such a thing? It had to be someone else. They had to process the scene. These were the first glance assumptions. These were the thoughts that calmed angry speed in his blood and focused his mind on the task ahead: Barry. Barry was who was important right now. Not Henry. Not Nora. Barry. Wally would not accept Henry had done this until the scene was completely examined. For now, he would take care of his nephew. He let out a shaky breath and finally responded, “I’m leaving right now. Tell him I’m on the way.” He hung up before Singh could respond.

In a blur of red hair and pale skin, he dressed, grabbed his keys, and left the house. The only thing he left changed in the apartment was a picture of him and Nora, turned face down on his bookshelf.

As soon as he had left, red lightning crackled through the air and a menacing laugh followed the hero’s exit. The Flash had no idea the person that was after his family.

-

Bart hadn’t been sleeping when he got the call. Honestly, sleep was for the weak, which was why Wally did so much of it. Bart preferred power naps and using every moment he possibly could for something. Basically, Bart Allen was very much a college student.

Anyway, not the point. Bart, instead of sleeping or studying for his test tomorrow--math, not his strongest subject but he also was going to school for journalism and he wasn’t exactly going to report on _ math _ so he really didn’t care--he and Tim had the other half of their quartet over to their shared apartment for a movie night. It had been Conner and Bart’s turn to decide so, of course, it was time for a marathon of the best movies in existence: Pixar movies. They were on their third movie--Finding Nemo, it always made him tear up at the beginning because, damnit, he related a lot to that fish--when his phone rang and he excused himself to answer, “Heyo, Bart Allen speaking, here for all your late-night comedy needs, how may I be of service?”

The voice on the other end cleared their throat before saying, “Mr. Allen, I am Detective Steller and I am calling to inform you of an incident at your brother’s home.”

Bart’s smile froze on his face, mind racing at what on earth such a vague statement could mean, “What kind of incident?”

A sigh came over the phone, the woman seemed like she very much did not want to continue, “I am sorry I have to be the one to tell you this, but your sister-in-law, Nora Allen, was found dead from a stab wound. We are taking your brother into custody for the crime.”

Bart’s temper burned hot and fast at her words, “What? What? No way in hell did Henry kill Nora!”

“Mr. Allen, he is our number one and only subject at the moment but that hardly means he did it. He is just our only lead. We will be investigating. What is more important right now is your nephew. Your brother-in-law is on the way, but we believe Barry needs as much support as possible. We believe he saw the murder, though he is in shock and making some extraordinary claims. Please, if you could, come in support of him.”

Bart didn’t respond for a long time. When he finally did, he said, “I'll be right there.” He ended the call, pushing the phone into his pocket with a trembling hand. The speed in his veins hummed with his emotions, picking up on the despair, anger, and horror he felt. Dead. Nora was dead. Henry was the number one suspect. Barry saw the murder. He all but stumbled into the living room, drawing his friends’ attention.

Tim stood, concern marking his features while Conner asked, "Dude, what's wrong?"

Bart's eyes traveled over the room, there was a picture of him and Henry when he turned 13. There was a blanket Nora gave him. There was his graduation photo with the two of them. He looked at his friends, green eyes distant, "Nora… Nora’s dead..." He swallowed, the saliva thick in his throat, “They think Henry did it.” It sounded so absurd to his ears. Henry, his sweet caring older brother, a murderer. He knew better than most people that anyone could be a criminal but Henry wasn’t anyone. Henry was his big brother.

His friends were around him in moments. Tim took his hands in his, firmly stopping their trembling, when had they started trembling? Cassie came to his side and Conner to his back, enveloping him in a hug. When Conner’s arms wrapped around him, he crumbled. A sob tore its way from his throat and he melted into his three best friends. He would go to Barry soon but, for now, he needed to fall apart.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_ Eight years earlier… _

Wally West could honestly say, of the eighteen and a half years of his life, he had hated most of them. Up until the day the police came knocking on his parents’ door and his sister had taken him to her apartment, he had just wanted it to end. Sometimes he still did. But when those feelings came on and he turned to pain like his father had drilled into him, Nora was there to pull him through. 

At six years older than Wally, Nora was more of a mother to him than their own mother had been, even when they both lived under their parents’ dominion. She had always protected him, taking the brunt of their abuse until the day she turned of legal age and their father had gone and done something neither of them had expected, he kicked her out. Both had expected he would try to hold onto Nora for dear life. He had always been controlling of their lives, molding them into what he wanted. Perhaps he saw Nora as a failure or, in his drunken state, had merely made a mistake. Whatever the reasoning, Wally’s sister was thrown from their home mere months before college, cut off from the family entirely. It was a year and a half before he saw her again, and that time was hell.

Wally shook his head, dragging himself up out of those dark thoughts as he surveyed the world around him. He was long past those days and had different things to worry about now. Better things. Right now, he had to make sure he didn’t run into anything at full speed, that always really hurt, no matter how much protection his powers provided. He was also worrying about getting lost on his way to Gotham. He had been the Flash for a little less than six months, the name was pretty dumb but it was better than the name he’d been called at first so it was growing on him. He had stayed mostly to Central, not wanting to overstep any of the other heroes who had been popping up’s turf. Superwoman and Wonder Woman were both hot but he totally didn’t want to be on their bad sides, so he stayed far away from Metropolis and DC. He had also been staying far away from Gotham but, apparently, this annoying guy he’d been dealing with, the Trickster, had decided to try on Gotham for size. Which would be a disaster, totally and completely, because Gotham had a clown way worse than the Trickster. So, he decided to go save the guy’s ass from his stupidity and, hopefully, save Gotham a wild copyright claim from their self proclaimed ‘Clown Prince of Crime.’ He was just hoping the city’s own rumored hero was just that. He had no desire to meet another hero, ever. His whole Flash persona worked great with villians, civilians, and first responders, but he didn’t wanna test it on his ‘coworkers’.

He knew he was going the right direction when the air got noticeably dirtier and the sky seemed to actually darken. He had thought people were joking about Gotham feeling like it was shrouded in darkness. Once he got into the city, it was like an obstacle course. The unfamiliar city was so crowded with things and people that the speedster had to pull it back a lot. See, the thing about superspeed was, it was just liking running anywhere else, you ran faster and more confidently when the place was familiar. He could zoom about Central City without a care because he knew it. Gotham he didn’t know and he didn’t trust his powers enough to protect him if he ran into a wall or something. Now, it wasn’t like he was going slow, but he was certainly not fast enough to just blur past without being noticed. People were  _ definitely _ noticing, which was exactly not what he wanted. Oh, he could see the headlines now, “Flash spotted in Gotham, what could this mean?!” The news was dramatic like that, that’s why he never watched it. 

Eventually, he turned a corner into an alley and stopped. He totally should have thought this through more. He had never run a city as crowded as Gotham and he was just not confident enough with his speed to just run it all willy nilly. He needed a destination. He automatically pat his hip in search of his cell phone, before he remembered he was the Flash and the Flash didn’t have pockets. The Flash could not  _ afford _ pockets, if he was honest. Low budget superhero that he was, he had created the suit with a lot of difficulty and pockets had just not been a vital addition. He was distracted and that really did not work out for him because in the moments he, a man who perceived the world at a much faster rate than most people, was snuck up on.

“Who said you could come to my city?” Came a serious try at a gravelly voice, though the owner of it was obviously not very comfortable with it.

Wally whipped around and came face to face with the rumored hero of Gotham, he thought. He wasn’t actually sure. The man was in a skin tight black suit with gold accents lining his torso, arms, and legs. The suit was armored in all the important places and he wore a belt across his chest that contained pockets and holsters for different weapons. On his face was a simple bird shaped domino mask which successfully hid his identity. The man was honestly pretty intimidating, though a bit short. Wally gulped and altered his own voice with his vibrating vocal cords trick, “Sorry, I was just trying to find this… guy that’s been bothering my city. He decided to head over here and I thought that was a pretty bad idea…” Wait, why was he just telling this guy what he was doing? He had no idea if he could trust him or not. What if he was a villain?

The man lifted an eyebrow, the sculpted mask lifting with it, "The Flash, right?"

Wally rubbed the back of his neck, a bit awkwardly, "Yup! That's me…"

"Then, I appreciate your wanting to take responsibility for your villain, or whatever, but get out of Gotham."

"And why would I listen to you…" he gestured to the man's outfit, "emo dude?"

The man snorted, and shook his head, "This is my city and I don't need other heroes thinking they can come in and try to help. I’ve got this place."

"Wait, so you're the dude? The, like, hero dude?"

The amused look was replaced by a frown, "Didn't I make that obvious? Not attacking you and all?"

Wally shrugged, "Never met another hero."

"Why would heroes attack each other?"

"Cause? Misunderstanding?"

That earned a more genuine laugh from the man, “You make a good point. I could see Superwoman pulling that. She’s more of a, punch first ask questions later kinda gal.”

“You know Superwoman?!”

“Yep, don’t you?”

“Why would  _ I _ know Superwoman?”

Another raised eyebrow and then a gesture to what Wally was wearing, “You do remember who you are, correct?” 

“I’ve been active for, like less than six months. I know the police officers in Central City and that’s like, it.”

The man hummed at that, “Who are you here to get, exactly?

“The Trickster. He’s a pretty slippery robber with a clown theme and a lot of, well, tricks. I’ve heard about, well, you know. Your clown…”

The other man’s look hardened into irritation, “He’s not Voldemart, you can say his name. The Joker is why I put on this suit and run around this city, actually.”

“Ah. Okay. Ummm…” Wally was finally feeling like he really stepped over a line, “I just thought… it would be bad if another clown came here. That it might set the Joker off.”

He got a sharp nodded in response, “You’re right about that. I’ll help you get your guy but then I need you out of here.”

"Oh, umm… okay. That's… reasonable." Wally said, glancing around them, "So, I don't really have any clue where he is…"

“So, what? You were just gonna run around Gotham like a bright red target?”

“Well, when you put it that way…”

The Gotham hero seemed to be growing irritated, “You know, I get you’re new to this or whatever but that was fucking stupid.”

Wally reacted like he had been slapped, “I… okay. I’m…” he let out a shaky breath and shook his head. He wasn’t being the Flash. He wasn’t even being Wally West. He was being the nervous kid that let his father hit him. He needed to act like the hero he was. So he put on the cockiness and said, “You obviously haven’t seen how fast I am.” That’s whenever he did something really, really dumb. It was so the Flash though. He picked up the other man and ran with him. Taking the streets of Gotham much faster than he had before. He realized as he ran that he had been underestimating himself running through the city so slowly. His perception kept up with his speed and, as long as he didn’t get distracted, he could take Gotham streets as well as Central. It didn’t take a lot of searching to find the Trickster. The man wasn’t really hiding, trying to set up shop in an abandoned warehouse. He skidded to a stop near the place, placing the Gotham hero on his feet.

The man immediately lost his lunch, hunching over and seeming to release everything in his stomach. When he finally recovered, he turned and tried to sock Wally in the face. 

The speedster caught the fist without trouble as the man was obviously still recovering, “Woah there! Sorry! I didn’t think you’d get motion sickness, most people I carry don’t do that! Though, I mean, I tell most people or they’re unconscious…”

“Don’t ever do that again!” The man tried to punch Wally again with the other fist and caught that fist as well. 

“You know, you’re being kinda dramatic. I thought we’d agreed heroes don’t fight with each other. This kinda feels like fighting.”

“Flasher!” Came a sharp, high pitched cry, “I told you not to follow me! You’re gonna regret not listening to me!”

It was times like these that he never could move fast enough or think fast enough. The Trickster raised a large gun, pointed it at the Gotham hero, and pulled the trigger. It wasn't something he even processed, he just flipped the man behind him and took the shot full on. It burned. It burned and burned and burned until the pain was too much and it all went dark.

**…**

Waking up was gradual, a slow eb of consciousness coming to him with the sounds and feelings following next.

"...still can't believe you brought him here."

"What was I supposed to do? I couldn't bring home, Tim would use it as an excuse to help."

"Oh my God, identity, you dumbass!" He heard a smack and a cry of pain.

"What the hell!?"

Wally opened his eyes, squinting against the light as he did, "Did you get the license of who hit me?" He tried to sit up but what pushed back down before he could get far.

"Nuh uh, I don't care how fast you apparently heal, you are not moving."

It was the voice of the Gotham hero, the one he jumped in front of a gun for… oh that's right. Gun. Trickster. Pain. Blackness. He groaned and blinked a few more times to adjust to the light. Finally, things began to come into focus. 

Over him was the Gotham hero and beyond him was… a red haired woman. She wore a black suit made of similar skin tight material as the man, which covered her entire body from the neck down. A green eye symbol was on her chest. Her mask, the utility belt around her waist, and the lining of the cape she wore were all the same bright green. Her arms were crossed and she looked  _ very  _ unhappy. 

His attention shifted then from what he was seeing _ ,  _ to what he was feeling, which was when he realized his suit was very much gone and his cowl was very much not on his face. With that realization he cursed and covered his face cause that was  _ definitely _ going to do something. 

He heard a sharp laugh, “Oh my gosh, he’s just as dumb as you.” The voice was distinctly female, obviously the redhead talking now.

The man ignored him and gently pulled Wally’s hand from his face, revealing his soft smile, “Sorry, we needed to take it off to dress your wounds.” He let go of Wally’s hand and ran a hand through his hair, “We aren’t gonna tell anybody.” The man bit his lip, looking like he was wrestling with a decision before he reached up to his mask and pulled it off, wincing as the glue was pulled from his skin. The action elicited a groan from the woman but that was mostly covered by the man’s words, “I’m Richard Grayson-Drake. Thanks for saving my life, even if it was kinda your fault I was there.”

Wally stared for a long moment before letting out a laugh, “I’m Wally West. No problem.”

  
  


_ Present Day _

From that moment on, they’d been best friends. Eight years of good times and bad times. They had started the Justice League together. They had mourned people together. They had stopped each other from doing things they would regret. They told each other their deepest, darkest secrets. They were two guys with a lot of pain in their pasts, killing that pain by helping other people. Dick Grayson liked to imagine going and beating up Wally’s father and telling off his mother. Wally West liked to imagine chasing down the guy who had killed Dick’s parents and beating the shit out of him. They would sometimes imagine different lives where they had met whole and unburdened. Where their first conversation was on a playground or after a show at Haley’s Circus or in a class instead of behind masks in the middle of the night. They like to imagine normal lives without their bruises and scars.

Barbara said there were sentimental dumbasses, though she always said it with a smirk and a gentle laugh so Dick accepted the insult with gusto.

The most important thing about the two of them was, they were always there for each other. No matter what, they were there. 

His phone rang at 5 in the morning, about two hours after he passed out on his bed in full costume. Babs made an annoyed noise and smacked Dick’s head, “Make it stooop.” 

He groaned and rolled out of bed, landing lithely on his feet. He grabbed his phone and fled the room to answer. Barabra liked her sleep. Without really looking at the screen, he answered the phone, “Hello?”

“Hey man.” Came Wally’s voice on the other end of the line. 

“Wally, why’re you calling me at,” He took the phone from his ear to look at the time, “Four in the morning?”  
There was a beat of silence on the other end of the line and then a deep breath,”Sorry, I know its early. I… I waited as long as I could. I didn’t want to bother you-”

“Wally.” Dick’s voice was firm, “You’re not bothering me, just tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nora’s what’s wrong.”

Dick frowned, “What do you mean, did you get into a fight about the Flash again or-”

“No, Dick, Nora’s dead. That’s what’s wrong. Nora was murdered in her home and Barry saw and they think it was Henry and Barry is a mess and Bart is too and I’m trying really hard here man but I can’t keep this up.” Wally’s voice got thicker with emotion and the words came out faster until Dick had to interrupt him.

“Just calm down. I’m gonna zeta over. Who's with Barry right now? Is Bart?” Dick rushed back into the bedroom, grabbing pants and a shirt, not bothering to keep quiet now. Babs would understand once he explained. He put the phone on speaker so he could remove himself from his suit. Damnit, why did he wear such a tight suit.

“Oh, umm, Conner and Cassie. Tim is with Bart.” There was something in Wally’s voice as he said it. Guilt, it sounded like.

Dick let out a sigh, he should have been expecting this, “Wally, please tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”

“We got into it, that’s all. We always get into it. If we didn’t get into it over this, you’d be concerned.”

Dick shook his head, having successfully extricated himself from his suit he pulled on his pants and then his shirt. He left the bedroom, went to the hall closet, grabbed a sweatshirt, and slipped on some shoes, “I’m coming over right now, okay?

“Okay. Thanks.” Wally replied, “Seriously, thanks. I don’t… I don’t know what I’m gonna do man. I can’t… I’m not cut out for this.”

“Dude, just like, hold on for a few minutes, kay? I’m gonna hang up so I can come over.”

“Right, right, yeah, okay.”

Dick hit the end call button and leaned his head against the door frame. Nora Allen was dead. And he was certain part of his best friend had died with her.


End file.
